The Future of Consumerist

Over the last twelve years, Consumerist has been a steadfast proponent and voice on behalf of consumers, from exposing shady practices by secretive cable companies to pushing for action against dodgy payday lenders. Now, we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports, our parent organization, to cultivate the next generation of consumer advocacy.

Stay tuned as Consumerist’s current and future content finds its home as a part of the Consumer Reports brand. In the meantime, you can access existing Consumerist content below, and we encourage you to visit Consumer Reports to read the latest consumer news.

We know that none of the companies in this year’s Worst Company In America tournamentwant to be on the list. But reigning Golden Poo holder Comcast has decided that, rather than actually do anything about the problems that make it a perennial favorite, it will just beg its employees to vote — multiple times — for the other guy.

We received a copy of this message from Comcast HQ posted to its employee network (and yes, the above artwork is an actual screengrab from TeamComcast.com):

Comcasters,

We need your help to show that Comcast is a great company.

The Consumerist website is currently hosting its poll of the “Worst Companies in America.” Comcast is part of the first round of this poll, which started today and ends at 9 a.m. (ET) this Friday. Unfortunately, this same poll named us as their worst last year. If you feel that Comcast does not deserve this label, we hope that you will participate and vote for the company that is paired against Comcast.

Of course, your participation is voluntary. Naturally, we don’t want to vote for any company to receive this label; unfortunately that is how the Consumerist poll is structured.

You can only vote one time from a single IP address, so we hope that you will consider voting today/tonight and at home from your cell phone, iPad, personal computer or other web-enabled devices with a unique IP address. You can use company devices as well as your personal devices. (If you are having trouble voting, please send an email to us here and someone will contact you to assist you.)

We have all worked very hard to make Comcast the terrific company that it is today and to create a customer experience that we are all proud of. We hope you will consider defending our company name by participating in this poll. Thanks in advance for your assistance and for the great work you do every day.

Another tipster sent us a second version of the letter:

Comcasters,

Our great company has been nominated by The Consumerist as one of the “Worst Companies in America in 2011” in their annual survey. We have all been working very hard to create a customer experience that we are proud of and need to come together to send a strong message that we simply don’t deserve this title.

We encourage you to participate in this poll and to vote with your heart to tell America that we are proud of our company. Participation is purely voluntary, and in the event you choose to vote, here’s what you need to know:

* DO NOT vote for Comcast. When you cast your ballot, vote for the other company. Remember, you’re voting for the “Worst Company in America.”
* Click on the following link and vote: https://consumerist.com/2011/03/worst-company-in-america-round-one-comcast-vs-charter.html
* Feel free to vote from the office and at home on your personal computers and laptops. You can also vote via the web browser on your cell phones, iPads, tablets and other web-enabled wireless devices.

When you cast your ballot, vote for the other company. Remember, you’re voting for the “Worst Company in America.”

Together, we are making a difference for our customers. Let’s stand up for ourselves and vote for what we know is right. In fact, the Consumerist sent us a letting encouraging us to “rally your troops.”

That last line about “rally your troops” was in reference to the sarcastic letter [PDF] we sent to all nominees. And even if we had intended for the companies to “rally their troops,” we would have hoped that meant encouraging your customer base to vote, not bullying your employees into voting multiple times. We believe that encouraging multiple voting on multiple devices is tantamount to cheating.

Note to companies in the WCIA bracket, if you want to notify your employees and have them vote for the other guy, don’t do it via a company-wide e-mail because the odds are pretty likely that it will end up in our hands.